Moving to the beat, our bodies briefly become these worlds. The music that inspires these scenes is almost always rock and roll, or one of its descendants, and the responses to its appeal, whether youthful enthusiasm or stodgy but humorously framed hostility, embody the erosion of resistance to new worlds. This scene, witnessed countless times in movies and on television and maybe even now and then in real life, enacts the way that fresh freedom sneaks up on us, tumbling out of us spontaneously, like laughter, moving us strangely but joyously to rhythms and melodies we’ve never known. The dancing adults simply regain self-consciousness-what’s wrong with me?-before furtively glancing about to confirm that no one saw them acting the fool. Sometimes, peer pressure isn’t even necessary. This lasts only a moment, though: pruned stares and I-nevers swiftly marshal the offender back to his or her staid station. Then, unexpectedly, one of the oldsters begins to smile, to tap a foot, and then to dance goofily in place, seemingly powerless before this new and forbidden fun. Indeed, they are shocked and offended by kids these days-by their footloose dancing and wild, loud music most of all. Adults are present as well-parents or teachers, usually, but they could be rich, stuffy old men in tuxedos and monocles. They’re dancing, energetically and all smiles, to beat-heavy music. You’ve seen this one before: the kids are at a night club or a soda shop, or maybe in a gymnasium. James Kriegsmann/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Bill Haley’s foundational role in American popular music is often overlooked.
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